:01:30. > :01:36.Coming up, June demands for more government cash to ease road
:01:36. > :01:46.congestion. And the folly of the development. Why the citizens of
:01:46. > :01:46.
:01:46. > :31:29.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1782 seconds
:31:29. > :31:32.Southend have that it had plans for Hello, I'm Etholle George. Coming
:31:32. > :31:35.Plans for an international airport in the Thames Estuary. A crackpot
:31:35. > :31:38.idea from London Mayor Boris Johnson or a visionary scheme to
:31:38. > :31:40.safeguard the future of British aviation? Shortly, we will be
:31:40. > :31:43.finding out the views of this week's guests, Robert Halfon, the
:31:43. > :31:46.Conservative MP for Harlow and Gavin Shuker, Labour's MP for Luton
:31:46. > :31:49.South but we'll start with a brief word about fuel duty.
:31:49. > :31:52.Now, there have been questions this week as to whether the Chancellor
:31:52. > :31:55.will put prices up in his Budget later this month. Fuel protesters
:31:55. > :31:58.went to Downing Street this week to try to persuade the Government to
:31:58. > :32:01.scrap a planned three pence a litre rise. Robert Halfon, record prices,
:32:01. > :32:03.price rises in petrol. I know you're a seasoned campaigner
:32:03. > :32:13.against price rises, but the Chancellor is going ahead with it
:32:13. > :32:17.
:32:17. > :32:20.this time, isn't he? Yes, we will have to wait and see. It is the
:32:20. > :32:23.number one issue facing our country. In my constituency, it is costing a
:32:23. > :32:26.10th of the average motorist their income, the amount of money they're
:32:26. > :32:30.paying on petrol prices every year. I was glad the Government cut fuel
:32:30. > :32:33.duty last year and did not go ahead with the January increase. We're
:32:33. > :32:43.urging the Government to postpone the August increase and also to cut
:32:43. > :32:45.
:32:45. > :32:48.fuel tax as soon as financial conditions allow. Let us talk about
:32:48. > :32:50.the Labour position on this. I understand that Labour was keen on
:32:50. > :32:53.this fuel price escalator which automatically increases prices
:32:53. > :32:56.ahead of inflation, sold as a green benefit, but actually just another
:32:56. > :32:59.tax on the motorist. I think if the economy were growing, we would be
:32:59. > :33:03.in a different place, but we actually accept that the best way
:33:03. > :33:06.you can get growth in the economy and reduce fuel cost is VAT. That
:33:06. > :33:10.is adding �2 or �3 on to the average fill-up at the tanks and
:33:10. > :33:13.that is actually a really important thing that we could do right now
:33:13. > :33:16.and George Osborne should do. is a fuel protest planned on
:33:16. > :33:19.Wednesday, but this has not gained the momentum of last year. Well, it
:33:19. > :33:22.has and there are still thousands of people that have signed the
:33:22. > :33:25.petition. The problem with a VAT cut is that not only does it cost
:33:25. > :33:28.�12 billion and would increase our mortgages because it would increase
:33:28. > :33:31.borrowing, but businesses do not pay VAT, so they would not benefit
:33:31. > :33:34.from any reduction. Thank you very much. Now, staying with frustrated
:33:34. > :33:37.motorists, here in the East, road improvements are always near the
:33:37. > :33:40.top of the agenda. This week, ministers have agreed to sit down
:33:40. > :33:42.with MPs to discuss how to upgrade the A47 from Great Yarmouth to
:33:42. > :33:45.Peterborough. Delegates at a special summit in Northamptonshire
:33:45. > :33:48.put pressure on the Government to find the cash to pay for promised
:33:48. > :33:50.improvements to the A14. Business, politicians and motorists all agree
:33:50. > :34:00.that delays to developments on improving this important road will
:34:00. > :34:06.
:34:06. > :34:13.damage the region's economy. Here is Andrew Sinclair.
:34:13. > :34:16.It is one of the busiest roads in the region. Used by 100,000
:34:16. > :34:19.vehicles a day. One in four jobs in Northamptonshire depends upon it,
:34:19. > :34:21.which is why there is such a clamour for things to be done
:34:21. > :34:24.quickly. We, frankly, are less concerned about the actual solution
:34:24. > :34:27.than the fact that we desperately need extra capacity as soon as
:34:27. > :34:29.possible. The Government has pledged �218 million to junction
:34:29. > :34:32.improvements and widening sections of the road. It has launched a
:34:32. > :34:35.consultation on a toll road in Cambridgeshire. But many at the
:34:35. > :34:38.summit said that was not enough. They want new carriageway all along
:34:38. > :34:41.this route. I think they're probably hoping for far more than
:34:41. > :34:44.they are ever going to get. They want a three-lane motorway instead
:34:44. > :34:48.of a two-lane dual-carriageway A- road and whilst that is going to
:34:48. > :34:51.happen in sections, possibly, there is just not the money to do that
:34:51. > :34:54.from Felixstowe, to join it up to the M6. And then there is the
:34:54. > :34:58.question of funding. Public money is highly unlikely. A PFI deal
:34:58. > :35:01.could be possible. There might also be European funding. This is after
:35:01. > :35:08.all a European highway. But some say building new lanes is not the
:35:08. > :35:12.answer to the A14's problems. think what we need to do is get the
:35:12. > :35:15.heavy goods vehicles off that road. When they are there, when they
:35:15. > :35:17.start passing each other, blocking up the road, that causes problems
:35:17. > :35:21.and it is them who are predominantly involved in accidents.
:35:21. > :35:24.I would like to see more work to get those off the road and on to
:35:24. > :35:28.the railways. We can do much more work to expand the railways, get
:35:28. > :35:31.those off and then the road will flow much better. Both business and
:35:31. > :35:33.the Government want a solution. But whatever option is chosen, it is
:35:33. > :35:37.going to take time. Gavin Shuker, what about the idea,
:35:37. > :35:41.then, of a new toll road? That is one way to improve our road. It is
:35:41. > :35:44.clear it is the only way that the Government will be willing to put
:35:44. > :35:47.money and investment into this vital route, the A14. I think that
:35:47. > :35:50.is probably the wrong choice, though. I would say that right now
:35:50. > :35:53.what we need to get their economy moving and businesses able to get
:35:53. > :35:56.their goods to market is a proper expansion of the A14. The first
:35:56. > :36:00.thing this coalition government did in transport when they came in was
:36:00. > :36:04.to scrap plans for the A14 and two years later, we still have no
:36:04. > :36:08.solution. Robert Halfon, if we have a toll road, the already hard-
:36:08. > :36:12.pressed motorist will just have to pay even more money to go about
:36:12. > :36:15.their daily business. It is good news that the Government are
:36:15. > :36:18.investing 130 million in this new road, but it was impossible to,
:36:18. > :36:25.given the economic situation we are in, to fully fund the �1 billion
:36:25. > :36:28.roughly that it would cost, so we have to look at alternative methods.
:36:28. > :36:32.The toll road works very well for the M6 in the North of England and
:36:32. > :36:35.I think we should go further and faster in looking at toll roads
:36:35. > :36:38.because, if we want these roads, we have to fund them somehow. Money
:36:38. > :36:41.does not grow on trees. We're facing a very difficult economic
:36:41. > :36:45.time. But how can people afford to utilise a road like that? It is an
:36:45. > :36:50.expensive way to go. It is, but at least people have the option. The
:36:50. > :36:53.M6 toll road has been incredibly successful. Gavin Shuker, don't you
:36:53. > :36:56.feel that we're being very stuck in the mud about continuing with the
:36:56. > :36:59.amount of traffic on our roads? What about this idea that was
:36:59. > :37:02.mooted at the end of that film about simply getting the freight
:37:02. > :37:05.off? It is great. And across the East of England, we know we need
:37:05. > :37:09.further and greater investment in public transport as well as road
:37:09. > :37:13.transport as well. The key thing on the M6 toll road is that you have a
:37:13. > :37:16.choice. For many people living across the East Anglia, the A14 is
:37:16. > :37:24.not another choice that they can choose to access, it is their only
:37:24. > :37:26.route and they suffer really badly from delays. This is why the
:37:26. > :37:30.Government are investing 130 million. But we have to recognise
:37:30. > :37:33.that money does not grow on trees and we have to make a judgement
:37:33. > :37:38.about where money is spent. In my own area, we're looking for an
:37:38. > :37:41.extra junction. That is going to cost �50 million. I know that
:37:41. > :37:46.you're a Euro-sceptic, but Europe could be the saviour of all these
:37:46. > :37:49.problems. Of course, if money is available for the scheme, all well
:37:49. > :37:53.and good and I would support the Government doing everything it can
:37:53. > :38:00.to get European funding, but let us wait and see to see if they are
:38:00. > :38:03.ready and waiting to give us the money. Let me give you an example
:38:03. > :38:07.from my own constituency, this government have been good in
:38:07. > :38:11.improving a junction there, that means that we can move more and the
:38:11. > :38:17.new businesses to Luton and they can get their goods to market. It
:38:17. > :38:27.helps everyone. I do not accept the argument that there is no money for
:38:27. > :38:36.
:38:36. > :38:39.improvements. The Chancellor does not be there. we to get you across
:38:39. > :38:48.the whole of the Regent that he had put the money where you could get
:38:48. > :38:51.We know that for every paid to that end, you get three or �4 out of
:38:51. > :38:56.these major improvement projects. We need to have a long-term vision
:38:56. > :39:02.on it. A want to talk about another form of transport dive. Let us look
:39:02. > :39:06.at the new plans for an airport in the Thames estuary. The mayor of
:39:06. > :39:09.London has championed the idea, but that first minister has poured cold
:39:09. > :39:13.water on it. Now the plan and are some were more expensive scheme
:39:13. > :39:17.have gone from PY and the sky to being under consideration. This
:39:17. > :39:22.week, councillors in Southend came out overwhelmingly against the
:39:22. > :39:26.plans, describing them as a folly of a development, which would
:39:26. > :39:34.prompt an extremely damaging change of life for people in the borough.
:39:34. > :39:38.So, well and estuary airport ever take-off?
:39:38. > :39:43.The Thames estuary, where a battle is being fought over nothing less
:39:43. > :39:48.than the future a deviation. The UK has a problem. Heathrow was there
:39:48. > :39:54.only hub airport, and you put that flies a long haul to world call --
:39:54. > :39:58.worldwide destination. It is at full stretch and their coalition
:39:58. > :40:02.has ruled out building another runway. Some say the answer is to
:40:03. > :40:12.forget Heathrow and build a new hub airport some were out there, in the
:40:12. > :40:16.Thames estuary, off at Southend. Talk of an estuary airport was back
:40:16. > :40:20.to the 1950s. Now the mayor of London has resurrected the idea.
:40:20. > :40:26.The problem with Heathrow is that it is a great the airport, but he
:40:26. > :40:34.cannot indefinitely expand that because it is in the wrong place.
:40:34. > :40:36.Boris Johnson's vision is an island airport. Other plants have been
:40:36. > :40:42.unveiled for the Thames Cup, directly opposite said then. This
:40:42. > :40:45.is what it could look like. Supporters say that if we cannot
:40:45. > :40:50.have more fights, our economic future is bleak. A London and the
:40:50. > :40:53.Saudis could end up at the end of a branch line. He will want to come
:40:53. > :40:59.here? If they do not have access to regular flights to major
:40:59. > :41:06.destinations? As the plants came a momentum, so does opposition to
:41:06. > :41:10.them in his set end. This would not be an estuary town, looking out to
:41:10. > :41:17.the open sea. It would become an industrial environment. A we have
:41:17. > :41:23.all sorts of wildlife on either side of the Thames and whether it
:41:23. > :41:28.be either project's idea, I think neither are appropriate. But not
:41:28. > :41:32.everyone agrees. This was Southend airport in the 1950s, now it is a
:41:32. > :41:36.thriving again. This new terminal officially opened on Monday. The
:41:36. > :41:42.managing director says an estuary airport is worth considering, for
:41:42. > :41:45.economic regions. If we're going to trade with that the Far East and so
:41:45. > :41:53.on, we need to work out how we're going to get there. It is important
:41:53. > :41:56.for the nation to work this out. One Suffolk MP supports the idea.
:41:56. > :42:01.come in favour of a new airport, which will actually have by product
:42:01. > :42:06.of being great for the economy of East Anglia. But the estuary is
:42:06. > :42:16.rich with wildlife. The RSPB is horrified by the idea as is this
:42:16. > :42:16.
:42:16. > :42:19.man. He started a protest group. would be 12 times more dangerous to
:42:19. > :42:25.fly from an estuary airport and any other airport in the UK. That is
:42:25. > :42:29.just madness. It is peaceful around here. It there always has been. It
:42:29. > :42:35.will be a massive difference. It will have a massive impact if it
:42:35. > :42:42.goes ahead. There is no doubt it that it would damage the estuary.
:42:42. > :42:46.Supporters say that without it, the UK economy will stagnate.
:42:46. > :42:50.Joining us now is a former director of Friends of the Earth, now an
:42:50. > :42:54.environmental campaigner who stood for the Green Party in the general
:42:54. > :42:59.election in the Cambridge. As a prominent environmentalist, you are
:42:59. > :43:02.totally against any kind of airport expansion. A week to take a broad
:43:02. > :43:05.view of this and one of the things that I would not is that in the
:43:05. > :43:10.cities of England, we have quite a lot of airport and not much
:43:10. > :43:14.wildlife. If we go ahead of this a large-scale development, we will
:43:14. > :43:18.push that equation still further up in the wrong direction. You that
:43:18. > :43:22.there the comparisons here about it the other countries that we compete
:43:22. > :43:27.with on the global economic stage in terms of the size of their hub
:43:27. > :43:32.airports. This is a commonly repeated plight about Heathrow be
:43:32. > :43:36.not big enough to compete, but bear in mind that in Amsterdam the have
:43:36. > :43:39.one big airport and we have one big airport and five others of the the
:43:40. > :43:45.incises, so we have an enormous amount of airport capacity already.
:43:45. > :43:48.If there is a case for expansion, the terms of getting access to
:43:48. > :43:53.long-haul destinations, then let us change the way we're using the
:43:53. > :43:58.capacity we have got, by reducing them at of short-haul flights, I
:43:58. > :44:04.put in place more high-speed rail. What about the fact that we need it
:44:04. > :44:09.new jobs? Gandhi environmental arguments stem -- stand up to be
:44:09. > :44:13.economical and? As long as we see that the environmental and economic
:44:13. > :44:16.argument are in opposition, have we will not get far. What we need to
:44:16. > :44:19.do is build a Green economy which invest in those kind of industries
:44:19. > :44:24.that will deliver long-term benefits for the future of the
:44:24. > :44:28.planet, as well as jobs in the short term. It is strange that we
:44:28. > :44:31.say that we should not be doing these things if China is bulletin
:44:31. > :44:35.so much. A key goal to China today, you'll see the biggest investment
:44:35. > :44:39.in the world going to soar panels, and to wind turbines and battery
:44:39. > :44:42.technology, because they have realised that the future is based
:44:42. > :44:46.on environmentally clean technologies. That is what we
:44:46. > :44:51.should be putting our investment rather it than in highly polluting
:44:51. > :44:55.sectors like aviation and a fossil fuels. We will come by tea and a
:44:55. > :45:03.second. Gavin Shuker, the government is launching a
:45:03. > :45:08.sustainable framework for radiation later this month. Why did this not
:45:08. > :45:10.happen years ago? I think it is a shame that they are not building a
:45:11. > :45:16.third runway at Heathrow because I believe that there is an aviation
:45:16. > :45:21.capacity crunch coming her way. Once we have looked at it China as
:45:21. > :45:24.the example, we can also look at them and realised they are building
:45:25. > :45:30.100 you airports to get that technology into the hands of the
:45:30. > :45:34.rest of the world. That is part of her be built a new a Green economy.
:45:34. > :45:38.They are starting from having no airport. The her modernising their
:45:38. > :45:42.economies. They are playing catch- up, not picking stuff on top of
:45:42. > :45:47.what they already have. You can see clearly that there is a capacity
:45:47. > :45:53.issue. Back in a believe Boris Johnson's plan will happen. The
:45:53. > :45:58.collision can say they have an economic strategy. Is it
:45:58. > :46:01.convenient? Even within the college and there is a lot of opposition.
:46:01. > :46:06.Brazil is opposition to anything new that is proposed. Let us face
:46:06. > :46:13.the facts. My idea of torture is going to Heathrow airport. It needs
:46:13. > :46:18.modernisation. We need have some vision and look at whether this
:46:18. > :46:25.island might be a good idea. I am moderately sympathetic to it and I
:46:25. > :46:28.do not know whether I would think he wants the environment will
:46:28. > :46:33.consultation has come through. We need to look at options because
:46:33. > :46:37.Heathrow has had its day. There has always been an opposition. Let us
:46:37. > :46:43.talk about the Victorians, who were against the railways. Surely we
:46:43. > :46:48.should move with the Times? Times are of a shrinking planet, in
:46:48. > :46:51.ecological terms, climate change getting to the point where
:46:51. > :46:55.scientists are warning of a catastrophe later in this century.
:46:55. > :46:59.We're getting to the point where mass extinction of plant and
:46:59. > :47:03.animals is under way. We have to start recognising some of these
:47:03. > :47:10.major environmental problems and playing a role in solving them as
:47:10. > :47:13.if the future actually mattered. The scientists at the heart of
:47:13. > :47:19.government are at signing letters that they have an unprecedented
:47:19. > :47:22.emergency honour a Hance, when it comes to the climate issue and the
:47:22. > :47:24.loss of animals and plants and here we are not in an airport in the
:47:24. > :47:31.middle of a wildlife haven that will make massive carbon-dioxide
:47:31. > :47:37.emissions. Let us build a clean and green economy. What about expansion
:47:37. > :47:41.at Luton? At have welcomed the plans to expand all the time. We
:47:41. > :47:44.think we can make a contribution to this capacity crunch that is coming,
:47:45. > :47:49.using the infrastructure that is there. It does not solve our
:47:49. > :47:57.problems about a hub airport. We need a serious hub that does not
:47:57. > :48:07.fall over every time it rains or snows. We believe it there. It is
:48:07. > :48:11.
:48:11. > :48:14.time for her political round-up. A last ditch attempt was made to
:48:14. > :48:21.serve in the coastguard at Great Yarmouth. Will it was the saving
:48:21. > :48:24.other rural banks. By answer an important part of our towns and
:48:24. > :48:28.villages. When they leave somewhere, you like to think it is done in an
:48:28. > :48:33.open way rather than in cuts just putting the shutters up. At Bedford
:48:33. > :48:36.MP made the case for safeguarding our Tad -- cab drivers. They
:48:36. > :48:41.deserve to be afforded the same protections for their physical
:48:42. > :48:44.safety and the safety of their property as are a bus drivers.
:48:44. > :48:49.Peterborough MP to do not want to save face with the Lib Dems, but
:48:49. > :48:52.instead lashed out at their leader. Will the Prime is to close the
:48:52. > :48:59.loophole for are multinational companies that allows the migrant
:48:59. > :49:07.cap to be floated, using end to it -- into a company just for us, or
:49:07. > :49:12.as is another one that will fall victim to the curse of Nick Clegg?
:49:13. > :49:22.Objections to charges introduced to our national treasure.
:49:23. > :49:24.
:49:24. > :49:30.What about that died at the Nick Clegg? that he died at Nick Clegg?
:49:30. > :49:35.I think that Nick Clegg should start acting on his own principles.
:49:35. > :49:39.The cracks in the coalition, are the real or is it just that our
:49:39. > :49:49.East Anglian awkward squad, stirring the pot? There were always
:49:49. > :49:52.
:49:52. > :49:58.be MPs raising questions. There are always going to be difficult pieces,
:49:58. > :50:03.-- difficulties, but we were working together. Let us talk about
:50:03. > :50:06.Big Ben. Why are you concerned about these charges? I think this
:50:07. > :50:10.is unprecedented because people have never been charged for going
:50:10. > :50:16.into the House of Commons before. It is undemocratic because no MPs
:50:16. > :50:22.have had an input. A family of four will have to pay �60 a time to go
:50:22. > :50:27.up the tower. We pay for it through her taxes. You are nodding and she
:50:27. > :50:31.can go ahead at the same time! completely agree. I find it
:50:31. > :50:36.astounding. One of the nicest things that I'd do when I got to
:50:36. > :50:40.schools is say that I worked next to Big Ben. Addressing the best
:50:40. > :50:47.thing is that they own it and they can come and see me there. It is
:50:47. > :50:50.our office, but all of us on it. have tabled a motion that has been
:50:50. > :50:54.signed by a lot of MPs from all parties and had gone to the
:50:54. > :50:59.backbench committee asking for a vote on this. Thank you both very